WILMINGTON — Concerns over Wilmington nightlife have been resurfacing this year amid high-profile violent incidents, but now the city is part of a pilot program designed to tamp down on safety issues while promoting more businesses and events.
The nonprofit consultant Responsible Hospitality Institute has picked three North Carolina cities, including Wilmington, to participate in its Sociable Cities pilot program.
Guided by the institute’s staff over several sessions, representatives from Wilmington will meet with other cities and state representatives with a goal to improve intercity and state-level collaboration on key nightlife issues — alcohol regulation, public safety, transportation, tourism, dining and entertainment, festivals, markets and licensing.
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The cities of Charlotte and Raleigh are also participating, with stakeholders set to convene with state representatives, including the ABC Commission, later this fall.
“This [program] is really just trying to gather information on what the trends are in cities, what some of the cities are doing to address those issues, and how you could exchange information with those who are finding solutions with those who are seeking them,” RHI founder and CEO Jim Peters said.
Peters reached out to Christina Haley, president and CEO of Wilmington Downtown Inc., to help coordinate local stakeholders in the pilot; invitations to participate included City of Wilmington and New Hanover County representatives, business owners and community members. A total of 20 people participated in a session Peters led on June 10, including Jennifer Rigby on behalf of the county; the city chose not to participate.
Haley told Port City Daily via email she found the opportunity with the institute is exactly what WDI’s core mission is — to address downtown Wilmington issues through public and private partners. She added the experience could be particularly valuable in light of recent violence concentrated downtown.
In April, the Wilmington Police Department reported nine homicides to date compared to four over the same period in 2024. Port City Daily requested updated numbers but did not receive them by press.
Two of the homicides occurred downtown after bars closed and garnered significant media attention. In April, the stabbing of a 21-year-old Marine took place on North Front Street amid several fights. Then, the weekend prior to the June 10 conference, a 23-year-old was shot and killed at the Front Street nightclub Unhinged. Haley explained WDI helped the building owner find a new tenant, a non-alcohol business, to replace Unhinged after its eviction from the space.
Haley said many downtown businesses have shared concerns that perceptions of downtown following those events have created ripple effects affecting customer activity throughout the district, both during the day and at night.
“Some businesses have reported revenue declines of 20 to 30 percent during what is typically one of their strongest seasons,” Haley wrote.
Thus, public safety and public perceptions of downtown’s danger level became the primary topic of the June 10 meeting.
“We need more coordination between the local governments and the ABC, so that when we are having these kinds of issues — whether it’s the density that we’ve got 30 [bars] in a two-block area, or if there’s shootings, violence, underage drinking, whatever it is — that the local government can exert more enforcement,” Susi Hamilton, Wilmington Downtown Inc. board member, said. Hamilton, a downtown resident, is also the former leader of WDI when it was called D.A.R.E.
Though founded in the early 1980s, the Responsible Hospitality Institute developed the Sociable City framework in the last decade. It involves what the institute calls the “building blocks” of a sociable city — planning, safety, vibrancy and governance.
It has since worked with more than 80 cities on updating “outdated” ordinances, addressing risky venue practices, working within reduced police budgets, forging partnerships and inter-agency safety plans and more. The institute considers the “gold standard” of its recommendations to be the establishment of nightlife managers, offices or advisory boards to oversee these matters and track their progress.
The institute also hosts statewide and national summits to propagate the sharing of ideas and solutions.
“What we began to notice was that within a state, there were issues that were happening within the cities, but they weren’t really connecting with each other,” Peters said. “And then at the state level, sometimes state policies and new regulations really made it difficult for locals to manage their activities at night.”
For example, North Carolina law mandates bars stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m. This often results in bar patrons being deposited on the street at the same time on busy weekends, increasing the likelihood of conflicts or pedestrian dangers.
Also participating in the June 10 session was John Hinnant, downtown business owner and New Hanover County GOP chair. Hinnant worked with the Responsible Hospitality Institute in 2011, when he was in Haley’s position as president and CEO of WDI.
At the time, Wilmington had seen several striking violent incidents associated with nightlife, including the stabbing of a 19-year-old outside The Rhino Club at 125 Market Street, which was shut down as a result.
“I was like: ‘Man, we just need somebody to come in here and teach us best practices,’” Hinnant said.
The institute and WDI teamed up for a one-day strategy sharing session, including representatives from Columbia, South Carolina. They shared that the city was considering implementing a last call rule, as state law did not mandate one. Hinnant said Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous recommended against it, citing the complications of releasing everyone at once. Hinnant described the bar closing period as pandemonium, with the city also experiencing some violent episodes downtown.
He said the meeting with the institute led to more open dialogue between the City of Wilmington, Alcohol Law Enforcement and the ABC Commission.
Now that the city has evolved with new council members, city government employees and business owners, Hinnant indicated it was time to revisit best practices.
For the statewide pilot, Peters reached out to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, who signed on as a funding partner, along with the three North Carolina cities. The pilot is also working with three cities in Pennsylvania.
Peters explained he picked the cities largely because of established relationships with their governments or business districts and also because Raleigh, Charlotte and Wilmington are sizable cities with unique challenges.
“Wilmington’s kind of a seasonal destination, but it’s a growing city with a lot of immigrants, New York immigrants,” Peters said.
The City of Raleigh worked with the institute in 2024 on a nine-month assessment of its current nightlife ecosystem and opportunities for improvement, focusing on the city’s Glenwood South and Fayetteville Street districts.
Before the assessment, the city was already funding an office of special events with two positions to liaison with nightlife businesses. It also has a nightlife steering committee to problem-solve and provide resources; the city coordinates with its Downtown Raleigh Alliance, funded with municipal services district dollars, similar to how WDI is contracted to handle Wilmington’s Municipal Service District funds.
With the governance structure in place, the institute’s report for Raleigh focused on enhancing public input and awareness of new businesses and business owner awareness of laws and best practices. Also among its recommendations are enhanced development standards — particularly soundproofing — in mixed-use developments, bringing back the city’s R-line to promote public transportation options to and from the districts, and the development of baseline security standards for district establishments, particularly the hiring of trained door security.
Raleigh, as a city further along in developing nightlife-specific policies, is now able to share its successes and challenges with Wilmington and Charlotte through the pilot program.
A Raleigh representative did not respond to Port City Daily’s interview request, but updates shared on the city’s website note the city has adopted new noise ordinances for commercial business as a result of the assessment. It also re-launched its “Cops on the Block” in 2025 to send officers to each of the city’s districts on a regular basis to engage with community members and business owners.
Peters told Port City Daily similar themes among cities are already emerging from the pilot program; communities are concerned about mitigating complaints that arise in mixed-use developments. Wilmington is no stranger to this issue as demonstrated by noise complaints and the land code controversy involving The Rift, an indoor-outdoor bar largely surrounded by residential development on Wrightsville Avenue.
Peters said cities are also focusing on promoting the disbursement of bar patrons after closing, including how to set up zones for ride-share services and funnel people to public transportation options.
“The longer it takes to empty a nightlife district, the more likely there could be violence or disorder or disturbances to residents,” Peters said. “So, if you could create an efficient nighttime mobility system, then you’re going to solve a lot of other problems.”
Additionally, cities are seeing an influx of teenagers and underage adults congregating in downtown areas as spaces disappear that once catered to youth; Peters pointed to the decline of the shopping mall.
Former city council member Luke Waddell pushed for a youth curfew in summer 2025 after a July 4 weekend incident. Though it didn’t involve a minor, a fatal shooting occurred in downtown Wilmington just before 2:30 a.m. on July 6; additionally, a 12-year-old was detained for setting off fireworks in the street. There were also concerns raised about the escalation of underage drinking and “bad actor bars” serving minors. The curfew never gained traction in Wilmington.
Some young adults are also carrying weapons, increasing the likelihood of deadly violence if conflict emerges; Wilmington has seen a rise in youth gun possession in recent years.
Peters said the cities involved in the pilot are exploring spaces to pull younger patrons off the street, such as recreation areas or multi–use spaces for dedicated teen events.
Port City Daily asked Haley if there were any strategies she would like to see adopted in the city, particularly a nightlife manager or advisory council. She said those decisions should come from the program’s research or needs expressed from the community during the pilot.
Haley did share that WDI is adjusting its staff schedules to include some evening hours to better engage with businesses typically open during the day. But she emphasized WDI’s involvement in the pilot as a facilitator, not a decision-maker.
Any policy change would need to be made by the city.
As confirmed by Peters and Haley, representatives from the Wilmington Police Department — including Capt. Chief Rodney Dawson, who is now deputy chief of police — attended two preliminary sessions before the June 10 meeting. One occurred on March 2 with a small group of stakeholders; the following day, WPD representatives met alongside Wilmington’s cohort with other North Carolina pilot cities and ABC Commission.
According to Haley, the officers and other city representatives were told not to attend the June 10 meeting the previous day. City Manager Becky Hawke confirmed to Port City Daily she made the decision.
“It was not a city initiative effort,” a city spokesperson provided in a statement. “Once we were made aware of the opportunity, there were implications for our ordinances, policing models, and zoning. The City wasn’t comfortable engaging, given the limited information we had.”
The city declined to answer further questions.
Port City Daily talked with several of the meeting’s attendees, all of whom said the meeting’s organizers expressed disappointment with the city’s decision to sit out. Port City Daily asked Peters if it was unusual to work with a city without that city’s employees participation; he said it was.
Though the county sent Rigby as their chief strategy officer, the county refused to speak in depth on the experience. A spokesperson said it has no position on the program or commitment to attend the statewide summit.
Hinnant said he thought the city should have sent a representative, but noted the city manager could have determined there weren’t enough resources to extend to the project.
“If that’s the case, I give her the benefit of the doubt,” he said.
Port City Daily asked council members to weigh in on the city’s lack of participation in the pilot; Salette Andrews was the only one to respond.
“While the City chose not to participate in the initial stakeholder meeting, I think there is value in following the outcomes of the pilot project and learning from the experiences of other communities,” Andrews wrote in an email.
She said she supports efforts to make downtown safe, welcoming and economically vibrant and would be interested in reviewing the pilots’ findings; however, she also acknowledged it is appropriate for the city to “carefully evaluate any initiative before committing staff time or considering changes that could affect City policies or operations.”
The city’s current efforts dedicated to downtown include the allocation of municipal services district funds — generated through a 7-cent tax on properties in the central business district. The funds are managed by WDI; the centerpiece of its services is its MSD ambassadors who provide street cleaning, safety escorts, hospitality assistance and graffiti removal to the taxpaying properties.
The city has also made fulling staffing its police department a priority. The city budget includes a “living wage” for all city employees, though it was especially designed to recruit and retain WPD officers. The department was reporting upward of 80 vacancies during spring budget talks.
Wilmington City Council also passed its Greater Downtown Plan this year, intended to outline strategies to address growth and resident concerns in all 18 downtown neighborhoods extending from the waterfront to Carolina Place, Greenfield Lake to the Northern Riverfront area. Action steps include implementing more transit modes to get people around town, establishing a parks conservancy to manage programs and activities, launch an incentive program to rehab unused buildings, support mixed-use developments, and make businesses more attractive and the pedestrian experience more friendly.
Port City Daily asked Haley if she thinks the Sociable City strategies overlap with ideas in the Greater Downtown Plan. They are complimentary, she replied.
“The Sociable City initiative encourages communities to look beyond the physical environment and consider how public safety, economic development, hospitality, arts and culture, special events, business operations, civic leadership, and public-private collaboration collectively shape the downtown experience,” she wrote.
She said one of the recurring themes in the June 10 meeting was the belief successful sociable environments require more than physical improvements, but also coordinated partnerships, thoughtful policies, communication, programming, and shared responsibility among both public and private stakeholders.
What could be one of pilot’s most pivotal partnerships, according to Hinnant and Hamilton, comes with the ABC Commission’s involvement.
“All my career has been mostly dedicated to downtown Wilmington, and we’ve never had the attention of the ABC board, the state ABC board, the way we do through this current process, and that is something that is extremely meaningful to addressing issues for downtown nightlife in the long-term,” Hamilton said.
The institute’s Raleigh report promotes the sharing of information between the local governments and the ABC Commission when establishments open or close. Local government stakeholders could also collaborate with the commission on updated standards for establishments, such as deescalation training or licensing of unarmed security, as conditions to obtain ABC permits.
Port City Daily asked the ABC Commission if there are any new initiatives or strategies it would like to explore further as part of the pilot. Director Education Community Outreach Stacy Grier said the commission will “continue to seek opportunities to partner with local communities to implement best practices and create vibrant, inclusive social spaces throughout the state.” She also pointed to the commission’s offerings on point-of-sale training, the Responsible Alcohol Seller/Server Program and its underage drinking prevention programming with its Talk It Out NC campaign.
Peters said he is in the process of setting a date for a statewide summit this fall and choosing six representatives from the Wilmington stakeholder pool to attend.
“I would expect that the people who are sitting together from the three cities and the state would begin to think about how they might work on some strategies together,” Peters said, adding outcomes could include follow-up summits or a formal state office or channel for the conversation to continue.
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